The Pavel Zacha mistake

[93LEAFS]

The thing about Johansen though, is that he basically came out of nowhere.

Had unimpressive stats the previous season in Jr. A, went through a major growth spurt and made an instant impact on a solid WHL team.

Late-bloomers tend to do really well for some reason (Giroux, Seguin, Bergeron, and to an extent, Laine).

Seguin wasn't a late bloomer at all. He was considered one of the best players in his age group in the GTHL for most of his life behind John McFarland. He went 9th in the OHL draft, had a good 16-year-old season and an elite 17-year-old season. You may be confusing him with Mark Scheifele whose story is very similar to RyJo. He wasn't ranked by CSB to start the year. Laine was known about since he was 14. His stock just dropped due to injuries and perceived character flaws.

 

[belair]

Zacha has no hockey sense.

It's like watching a faster, dumber Anisimov.

Isn't he pretty good defensively though?

 

[Pens x]

I’m pretty sure the GM should take some of the blame since this was such a high pick. But Shero is like a greased pig when it comes to getting blamed for anything.

 

[Bleedred]

I’m pretty sure the GM should take some of the blame since this was such a high pick. But Shero is like a greased pig when it comes to getting blamed for anything.

I'm by no means saying Shero should be fired yet or that I think he's done poorly up until now, because he really hasn't. But he's also escaped some serious fire and dodged a lot of bullets from our fanbase for what's going on right now.

There's always someone or someone's blaming goaltending and Schneider (me more than anybody, because there's still some apologists and deniers that believe he's bouncing back after 100 games worth of .904% goaltending) or this player or that player or wanting to fire the coach or other members of the staff (believe me, I've certainly participated in the slagging of Hynes for YEARS now), but not many people wanna open up their mouth or use their hands to sound off about Shero.

He's the guy who hasn't waived Schneider yet, he's the guy who hasn't done a god damn thing with this roster that's filled with guys that DGAF, short of call up to a goon and other no-skill guys or some prospect to play 5.5 minutes a game before being sent back down and he's the guy who keeps this shit head coaching staff that we all bitch about intact.

I'm starting to wonder if he plans to just not really compete until Taylor Hall is 30-31 years old and if that's the case, will Hall even wanna stay?

Shero should start to really feel some heat if he doesn't make upgrades this summer and if Schneider isn't bought out, which I think he will be bought out. He's the only guy Shero's publicly even made a critical comment of on the entire roster, but he also was specifically asked about him, as opposed to other players.

 

[Pens x]

I'm by no means saying Shero should be fired yet or that I think he's done poorly up until now, because he really hasn't. But he's also escaped some serious fire and dodged a lot of bullets from our fanbase for what's going on right now.

There's always someone or someone's blaming goaltending and Schneider (me more than anybody, because there's still some apologists and deniers that believe he's bouncing back after 100 games worth of .904% goaltending) or this player or that player or wanting to fire the coach or other members of the staff (believe me, I've certainly participated in the slagging of Hynes for YEARS now), but not many people wanna open up their mouth or use their hands to sound off about Shero.

He's the guy who hasn't waived Schneider yet, he's the guy who hasn't done a god damn thing with this roster that's filled with guys that DGAF, short of call up to a goon and other no-skill guys or some prospect to play 5.5 minutes a game before being sent back down and he's the guy who keeps this **** head coaching staff that we all ***** about intact.

I'm starting to wonder if he plans to just not really compete until Taylor Hall is 30-31 years old and if that's the case, will Hall even wanna stay?

Shero should start to really feel some heat if he doesn't make upgrades this summer and if Schneider isn't bought out, which I think he will be bought out. He's the only guy Shero's publicly even made a critical comment of on the entire roster, but he also was specifically asked about him, as opposed to other players.

Blind loyalty was always an issue for him. He kept Bylsma for way too long and kept players well past their primes.

 

[24 others]

But the Zacha Mistake is haunting the club right now and will for many years to come.

They drafted a guy who is not developing well. If they don't like him, they can let him walk (rather than being "haunted for many years to come"). It's just a draft. You hit some, you miss some.

Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, everyone and their dog knows they should have drafted Barzal, Werenski or Rantanen. Unlike us though, hockey GMs don't work with hindsight.

 

[sessiroth]

I can tell you 1 scout pushed hard for Barzal at the draft with NJ. The rest of the scouts/managament said his skating and size was a concern and his NHL upside was weak so obviously the one scout was outvoted.

Devils werent even considering Barzal at all when they were going to the podium

I know this respond will be questioned alot on here but its true

This is extremely bizarre to hear because the scouting report on Barzal was 3 tools out of five. Potential for elite speed, elite playmaking, elite hockey iq, lacks strength, lacks a shot. Also had injury issues.

So for a scout to question his skating is poor scouting. It's an area he excelled in

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Busts happen. Every franchise has a tale of woe when it comes to a highly drafted pick. Hell remember the Rangers with Hugh Jessiman/Dylan Mcilrath? Ryan Strome/Griffin Reinhart?

Sometimes high picks just bust hard. Hindsight is 20/20.

I remember that draft well, McIlrath was never a good prospect & people thought the Rangers drafted an enforcer with that pick, Cam Fowler was still available & they could have taken him & never had to make that trade for Yandle that they did.

 

[AvsGuy]

There were rumblings ahead of the draft that Zacha was a project with a high ceiling but a low floor. I was sure he’d fall to Colorado and I was wary, reminded me of Wojtek Wolski. I was also sure New Jersey would draft Barzal. Shwoops.

 

[lebdafor norris]

But at the same time, the kind hearted Pete Chiarelli gifted the Devils with Taylor Hall in order to makeup for this miss opportunity.

 

[BlueBaron]

Seems like a lot of drama over 1 pick. Lol. Let me tell you about a guy named Brandon Convery...

 

[NyQuil]

Sounds like a Robert Ludlum book.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Seems like a lot of drama over 1 pick. Lol. Let me tell you about a guy named Brandon Convery...

When things go wrong, it's easy to find drama queens among the fan base.

 

[Wooren]

Obviously not good enough considering his draft postion, but at least he got better defensively and potentially can make a decent career as a strong fourth line C. That, or go to Europe and get a bigger role there.

 

[Devils090]

I’m pretty sure the GM should take some of the blame since this was such a high pick. But Shero is like a greased pig when it comes to getting blamed for anything.

Shero didn’t make the pick

 

[135ace]

Let's be honest, we would have never ended up with Zacha if it wasn't for Schneider trolling us and playing out of his mind before deciding to become a useless turd. If we want to blame Zacha on anyone it's Cory's fault. He has been a curse on the franchise since arriving here.

 

[Devils090]

Let's be honest, we would have never ended up with Zacha if it wasn't for Schneider trolling us and playing out of his mind before deciding to become a useless turd. If we want to blame Zacha on anyone it's Cory's fault. He has been a curse on the franchise since arriving here.

Lmao the mental gymnastics to actually blame Schneider of all people

 

[aufheben]

I remember that draft well, McIlrath was never a good prospect & people thought the Rangers drafted an enforcer with that pick, Cam Fowler was still available & they could have taken him & never had to make that trade for Yandle that they did.

This is why you take the BPA. We already had Del Zotto, but they still should have taken Fowler it someone else.

 

[Pens x]

Shero didn’t make the pick

He was hired almost 2 months before the 2015 NHL draft. I’d hope the GM would have some input on the 6th overall pick.
But he won a cup 9 years ago!

 

[NJDevilsFan21]

This one really hurts because of how good that draft was - everyone around us got significantly better... Nico, Barzal, Smith... what a young core that would have been to build around, with Hall as the vet. Sigh. I honestly think Zacha may be the worst pick in franchise history, given the circumstances.

 

[Avelanche]

I don’t watch him but is there is something obvious to his game that makes it so even at 21 he’ll never figure it out? Sucks it happened in one of the strongest drafts in a while but busts at 6th happen.

 

[NJDevilsFan21]

"what’s missing, why can this guy produce even though he’s bigger, stronger and faster than everyone else on the ice".

Killer instinct. He plays passive, shy, scared, whatever you want to call it. When you see players like Hall and Nico, you can tell they are guys who want the puck, and drive the play. We'll be lucky to see Zacha hold the puck for longer than a second. It's infuriating. As a 6th OA, he's expected to generate the offense, and not float around hoping for something to happen, or be a defensive board battler. There's also something to be said about hockey IQ - good players constantly put themselves in the right places, and I'm afraid he just may not have that.

 

[seafoam]

Sometimes these types of picks pay off (Johansen, Schiefele), sometimes they don’t.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

This is why you take the BPA. We already had Del Zotto, but they still should have taken Fowler it someone else.

In hindsight i think alot of teams wish they had traded down & drafted both Tarasenko & Klingberg.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Why do 6th overall picks seem to suck so much.

Really? I haven't noticed.

Paul Coffey
Doug Wilson
Peter Forsberg
Vinnie Damphousse
OEL
Sean Monahan
etc.